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Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Buon Natale Tutti! I am very excited for Christmas here and to spend it with the people of Como. It will definetely be a different Christmas but I know that it will be one that I will never forget. I am happy that I will be able to spend this time with the wonderful ward members of Como.

It has been a little bit harder to find people to teach these last weeks but somehow we still keep going and God blesses us with little miracles here and there.

Saturday was a very special day. Our new convert was able to baptize his son. It was very special to be able to witness two generations baptized and how this message is truely blesses families. After his son was baptized he was smiling ear to ear. I feel so incredibly blessed to be here and see these wonderful people grow and change. Thes new converts are so inspiring for me. That help me want to become a better person. One of our other new converts was telling us how before she takes her son to school they say a little prayer together. I was so proud of her and the example she is setting for her young little boy. I told her many times during that lesson how grateful I was for her example, because she makes me want to be better.

This Saturday we are having our ward christmas party and I am excited to spend this time with the ward members and investigators. We helped them by making a sleeta and a reena (sleigh, and reindeer) for the end of the party. They are having the primary do a little nativity so it will be a wonderful night I am sure of it.

I am happy to spend christmas in Italy this year and I know it will be an unforgettable Christmas. Thank you all for your love, support, letters, prayers. I am very grateful for you all and I am grateful for the blessings of the gospel. I hope you all will enjoy Christmas and try and find the beauty of the birth of our Savior and Redeemer Gesù Cristo. I love you all and I am excited to skype with you on Christmas!

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Well this week has been a week of refection and just feeling so much joy.

Monday we had our Christmas Zone conference which was wonderful and it felt like an American Christmas. It was great because we sang Christmas Carols and were able to hear from our sweet mission President and his wife. It was special because we all got a christmas apron for a christmas present and it was from como! It was a great start to the day.

When we got home we had a lesson with a investigator from the philippines. We planned to review the restoration but everything that was happening in her life made us realize that we needed to talk about something else. She told us about the tsunami in the philippines and also about how the last year so many people in her family have died. In that moment I knew what I needed to talk about. We started to talk about the plan of slavation. As I began to talk about this I began to get teary eyed because I could relate so much to this sad woman who misses her family. It is interesting to see how our personal experience can help others who are facing similiar situations. This was a very special moment for me because I was able to realize yet again how important my family is for me. I love teaching this lesson and I always have. There is always such a wonderful spirit especially to people who have lost someone very close to them. I felt so much love during this lesson and I felt priviledged to be able to share my testimony about the plan of Salvation.

Yesterday we had a lesson and we brought a member with us which was also a very special experience to see how much our investigator connected with this member. There was such a sweet spirit as our member bore testimony of the church. After this lesson I just felt so much gratitude. I felt so grateful thinking about all of the people I have met here thus far and how their lives have changed. I am so grateful for these people. I definetly feel that they have stolen a piece of my heart because when I talk about them I just start tearing up thinking about these wonderful people.

Each day I am getting more and more excited for Christmas in Como. I know that it will be a Christmas that I will never forget.

I love you all! Enjoy singing Christmas Carols, drinking hot chocolate, spending time with family and remembering the birth of Jesus Christ.

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Well this week was a little bit hard to say the least. We had transfers on Thanksgiving. So I had to say goodbye to Sorella Stephens at the Milano train station. Which was one of the saddest moments. That morning she was just being her good old self and it just finally hit me that she was leaving and I started tearing up. Seriously I am so grateful for Sorella Stephens and I consider her as one of my greatest of friends. She is the best and I can't even begin to express how grateful I am for her.

I was excited to meet my new companion at the Milano train station and go back to Como. Little did I know our first few moments together would be the funniest and sad at the same time. It all started after we got lunch..I realized that my tights were falling down..to my knees..nooo! For some reason there was not a bathroom..This ended up being one of my most embarassing moments yet on my mission. So I decided to take off my tights behind a vending machine (why you may ask..no one knows why.) Then these people say to me who were nearby "It's easier with a chair.." It was too late the awkwardness couldn't escape at this point.. All in all the moral of the story is I will never wear those tights again.

Then we left to go to the other train station and I needed to get some cash but I couldn't find my wallet anywhere..Completely gone..So I am almost postive it was stolen when we were in the metro because we were all focusing on the luggage we were taking. So Thanksgiving was very memorable in Italy for me.

We had a ward talent show this week that was seriously hilarious and so great. We had this cute elderly couple from Napoli waltz and they were dancing to "I can't help falling in love with you" by Elvis. Needless to say every church event we go to I realize more and more how much I love these members in Como.

This last week we had snow for the first time! Luckily it was only that day and ever since then it has been snowy..phew! But I am sure that it will be a white christmas in Italy. There are so many pretty christmas lights in Como and christmas decorations. I am so excited to spend Christmas in this beautiful city. They have these special lights at night that go on the como duomo and on the duomo it looks like the nativity. Ah! Seriously I am obsessed with Como!

My new companion is great! It is pretty hilarious because everyone always asks "Siete parenti?" hah It is going to be a fun transfer. One member even asked me if my companion lost her nametag and I told then that we have the same last name. It gets confusing because we both have the same last name..haha So the members call me Carter uno and they call my companion Carter due. Which is a lot easier for us both to know who they are talking to. She is great though. She is super sweet. I am still a little bit nervous about being senior companion but I know that it will all be okay.

Today I read Hebrews 6:15 which says,"And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise." I loved this verse and the simplicity of it. I know that this verse is true and that the Lord is very much aware of the trials that we all face in this life. I am realizing more and more everyday of the importance of patience, especially in myself.

I feel so lucky to still be in Como. I love this city. It truely is my second home and I do feel at home here. I feel blessed despite the weird things that occur now and again. I have so much to be grateful for in this life.

I love you all. Enjoy the wonderful Christmas season and enjoy singing christmas songs. I love sing the Christmas hymns in Italian. Enjoy the week!

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

-Matthew 11:28-30

"Wherefore, be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you; and ye shall bear record of me, even Jesus Christ, that I am the Son of the living God, that I was, that I am, and that I am to come."